The passage deals with an issue that is _______________.

Directions: Answer the question based on the following passage.

Of the 793,025 cumulative number of persons diagnosed with AIDS in the US since the initial case in June 1981, 96.9% were between the working ages of 20 to 64 years. From 1990 to 1999, the number of persons living with AIDS in the US had increased 400% to 312,804. With the advent of health enhancing protease inhibitors and highly active anti-retroviral therapy (HAART) in 1995, the longevity for persons diagnosed with AIDS was enhanced. With the increase of persons living with AIDS and the advent of HAART, there is an increase of persons living with AIDS entering or re-entering the workplace and seeking public vocational employment services.

Under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), a person living with the HIV or AIDS meeting defined criteria is protected as a person with a disa ibility. However, even with federal legislation addressing HIV/AIDS, several factors have been suggested to correla te with employment seeking behavior of PLWHAs (people with HIV/AIDS). Such factors include negative self-perceptions associated with being infected with the HIV, a limited or non-existing work history, perception of a lack of workplace environment friendly to persons living with HIV/AIDS, and the impact of work upon one's adherence to medical treatment regiments.

The attitude of public rehabilitation job placement professionals toward persons with disabilities is significantly correlated with the consumer's self-concept, personal issues related to the consumer's disability, utilization of the consumer's skills and abilities, and the rehabilitation services outcome. With increasing numbers of PLWHAs seeking employment, disability status for PLWHAs, and the lack of RSA data on the number of PLWHAs receiving public rehabilitation services, no aspect of public vocational rehabilitation services for PLWHAs demands more research than job placement. As the case rates of HIV/AIDS increase, an increase in the number of PLWHAs on public rehabilitation job placement professional's caseloads is likely.

For PLWHAs, employment has been reported as one of the most significant contributions to successfully living throughout their illness and important to their emotional well-being. Successful rehabilitation service outcomes may be enhanced through understanding the beliefs of PLWHAs toward employment. The needs of consumers of public vocational rehabilitation services demand that public rehabilitation job placement professionals provide services in an expert and proficient manner, resulting in the successful placement of the consumer into a job. A behavioral theory-based approach to understanding the employment seeking behavior of PLWHAs may provide clear and formative data, offer guidelines for identification and selection of variables on which to intervene, and provide topics for in-service training to enhance service provision. The concept of utilizing theory to address specific phenomena in the field of rehabilitation counseling has been presented as one way to further develop the empirical foundations of our field.